


Clovers aren’t flowers

by Justsomeone99



Category: RWBY
Genre: Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Qrow POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:47:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23842486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justsomeone99/pseuds/Justsomeone99
Summary: Everything started with a small leaf, so small that Qrow saw it and thought it was some left over in his teeth..“Did… did you just cough that?”“I think, I was out today I probably swallowed in the battle and I didn’t notice until now”“Uncle Qrow, you are not sick, again are you?”“C’mon Yang, clovers aren’t flowers. I don’t have Hanahaki again, don’t worry”
Relationships: (past) one-sided Qrow Branwen/Summer Rose, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 74





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had these idea (after I read a hanahaki fic) and I needed to write it.  
> (I just noticed that Clover might by a little OoC, so sorry fo that)

Everything started with a small leaf, so small that Qrow saw it and thought it was some left over in his teeth.   
Qrow Branwen had had Hanahaki disease a long time ago, when he loved Summer but she didn’t love her back, Qrow blamed his bad luck for falling in love with her, after the disease got wore he took the decision and got rid of the white roses that bloomed inside him, he did it for her, for Tai and for his nieces. After that he only saw Summer as a friend, he knew that by getting rid of the flowers he also got rid of his feelings, it had been a tough decision but he knew he had done the right thing. At least that was the story he told his nieces.

After the Hanahaki incident he promise himself to never fall in love again, it was to risky, with his semblance and life style his feeling would never be returned, he got somehow lucky in the worst way possible and survived the first time, even if now he still feels a void inside him, he couldn’t survive the disease again. 

Many years passed and he joined his nieces in their travel. They had arrived at Atlas, got arrested and then not, it had been a strange week, Qrow wasn’t to fond of Ironwood but he understood the man’s worries, he couldn’t be exactly worry anymore, Salem couldn’t be defeated, all they could do was resist, he supported Ruby’s choice of not telling Ironwood the truth right away, they still didn’t knew if they could trust him. For now, the only thing he had to do was helping his nieces and friends and stay sober.

“Qrow, I was looking for you” Said Clover and Qrow groaned, it wasn’t that he didn’t liked the other man, he was a good huntsman and an impressive leader, it was only that he was also stupidly handsome and the fact that his semblance was opposite of his own made him feel safe around him, as if his bad luck couldn’t affect him.

“Need anything soldier boy?” He had been kind of avoiding the other man after the fight in the cave.

“General Ironwood had just assigned us a mission; didn’t you get the message?” Clover informed him. Qrow took out his scroll and found the notification, just his luck he hadn’t heard the damn thing and now he couldn’t bail the mission.

“Let’s go then”

They played cards and Qrow lost every single time, he didn’t care because if they were playing, he had an excuse to not talk, even if he knew that Clover was trying to make small talk, he didn’t understand why the Ace Op kept trying to know more things about him, why he kept compliment him and stuff, they were only partners because of their fighting styles and semblances complemented each other.

“Cut it out, will you?” Qrow finally said.

“What?”

“Just because Ironwood assign us together doesn’t mean we have to be friends or anything, your team say it, they are not friends just teammates, we can be the same.” Qrow wished he had imagined the hurtful look in Clover’s face, but he hadn’t.

“If I’m bothering you, just say the word and I stop. But just before you said anything… I want to be your friend, not because we are partners in the field, I found you interesting Qrow, the way you have come all this way and help your nieces is admirable and also I have never meet someone with a semblance similar to my own” Clover sincerity struck Qrow, he found immediately a million reason why nothing that he did was admirable, but he knew if he said something Clover would start saying another million reason to contradict him. 

He knew befriending Clover was a bad idea, he wasn’t good at relationships, the only people he saw frequently didn’t stand him, like Winter, he didn’t want to abuse of Clover kindness and apparently interest in him, but he had been alone for a while, and even if he loved his nieces more than anything in the world he could use someone to talk to that was kind of around his age.

“Okay then, if you are doing it because you want to, then we can be friends”

Qrow extended his hand and felt Clover grab it, he looked at the other man in his eyes and felt something tingle in his throat at the sight of Clover’s smile, he seemed happy and Qrow took that as a good sign. 

After that they got close, Qrow learned that Clover had a lot of trouble because of his semblance, how when people found about it they tried to be friends with him because they believed that being around him would bring them good luck, in return Qrow told him about how he always thought that everything bad that happened around him was his fault. Then Clover promise to teach him how to control his semblance.

“I use my pin; it allows me to focus and with that I can direct my semblance” Clover explained. 

“Not to offense Cloves, but even if your pin looks amazing on you, I don’t think it would suit me” Qrow was so focused on the pin that he failed to notice the light blush that was spreading in Clover0s cheeks when Qrow approached to examine the pin closer. 

“We… I mean you can find something else; the pin is just what I use” 

One morning Qrow found a tiny green leaf stuck in his teeth, he thought maybe when he was in his bird form, he had swallowed it by accident. He was supposed to meet Clover later in the afternoon to keep trying to control his semblance but his throat had been killing him the past few days he probably would have to cancel and saw a doctor. He was about to text Clover when he saw that they had been assigned to another mission, he could tell him in person.

“Are you alright?” The Ace Op asked after they successfully got rid of all the grimm. 

“Yeah, why?” Because of the mission and the battle, the shapeshifter had forgotten about his sore throat.

“You were slower today” Pointed out Clover concerned.

“Are you saying that finally my age had come to taunt me?” Qrow joked and Clover smiled, the Ace op thought it was probably nothing serious. 

When they were back to Atlas Qrow felt the itch again and told the other man that they would have to reschedule their training because he had something else to do, he felt bad when Clover just nodded disappointedly and Qrow made a mental note to make up to him.

Qrow was walking when he suddenly felt like he was short of breath, he punched his chest because he felt like something had stuck in his respiratory track, when he finally managed to cough a tiny four-leaf clover was in his hand. He blamed his semblance when he saw Yang looking at him with a worried expression.

“Did… did you just cough that?” His niece asked him.

“I think, I was out today I probably swallowed in the battle and I didn’t notice until now” He tried to remember if he saw any clovers near him.

“Uncle Qrow, you are not sick, again are you?” She sounded really concerned. Qrow knew that Yang and Ruby knew about the Hanahaki disease he had had when they were little, Tai had told them with his permission and then Qrow had told them again when they asked. 

“C’mon Yang, clovers aren’t flowers. I don’t have Hanahaki again, don’t worry” He reassure her.

“But what if you do, you have spending a lot of time with Clover and maybe…”

“I think I knew if I was falling in love with Clover. But if it soothed you, I will distance myself from him” He didn’t like the idea, but if that made Yang stop looking at him as if he was about to die, he would do it.

“What? No! You seem happier when you are around him. You know what, you are right, clovers aren’t flowers.” She smiled at him and left. 

The next time it happen he was in his bird form, he had been flying to relax himself a little after an stressful mission when his semblance almost fucked everything up, when he had seen Clover approach him, he knew that the Ace Op was going to try to convince him that close call hasn’t been his fault, so he had run and shifted. He felt something odd, like he didn’t have enough air and suddenly he was falling, he was terrified, he had never crashed in his bird form, suddenly something warm wrapped around him and saved him. 

“Lucky you I was around here” Qrow couldn’t believe that Clover had catch him, he squawked. “What do you have there, pretty bird?”

Qrow tried to fly away but he was still recovering from his lack of air and fall, Clover took the plant out of his mouth and examine it. 

“A four-leaf clover, how strange… You know that these are not exactly common in Atlas. Was this what made you fall?” 

Qrow couldn’t believe he found extremely cute that Clover was talking to a bird like it was the most common thing in the world, if he had been human, he would have laughed at Clover’s question. He realized he had been falling for Clover without knowing it, he had noticed until that moment how much he enjoyed spending time with the other time, talking to him about anything and everything, how much time he had spent appreciating the Ace Op physique, he liked Clover. He flew away as fast as he could.

He shifted when he got to his room, and felt like his lungs were burning, suddenly his sore throat had a perfect explanation, he had Hanahaki again, he was screwed.


	2. But they can grow flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can Qrow handle his hanahaki and still be beside Clover?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me so long, I didn't now how to end this... but finally here it is

Hiding from someone with the ability of shapeshifting should be easier, or at least that’s what Qrow thought, but apparently having Hanahaki affected his bird form more than his human form, when he was human he barely showed symptoms a little cough now and then, but his bird form had smaller lungs he could barely resist a long fly because he felt like fainting, it sucked. 

He hadn’t told anyone about his discovery, his sickness but he had manage to reduce the amount of time he spent around people, he started asking James for solo missions, he avoided common rooms and places where he knew that he might bump to someone, but he still hang around the kids sometimes and kept practicing with Clover, he didn’t want anyone worrying about his sudden disappearance. 

He had had a few close calls, he was having a cough attack when he heard someone nearby, he shifted immediately and then regret it when he fell in the ground unable to fly because apparently crows could have cough attacks as well. When he recovered, he saw that Clover was standing in the hall watching him intensely, he was also rubbing his pin a lot, Qrow had never saw the Ace Op use the pin that much.

“Pretty bird… Are you the same one I saved last week? Are those clovers still bothering you?” Clover asked and then laughed “I’m talking to a bird... again”.

Clover sat on the floor, Qrow was still weak and the Ace Op didn’t look well, so he decided to approach jumping a little, he picked Clover’s palm until he got his attention.

“I’m sorry I don’t have any food with me” Qrow only titled his head, trying to tell him that he didn’t care about food, if he was human, he should have asked what was wrong “I just… I never been the kind of person that used my semblance for personal reasons, but I… I was hoping to find someone and I might have used my luck for that, I’m so disappointed it’s the first time that my semblance fails me like this…” Then he mumbled “Well… it did take me to a crow, just not the one I was hoping for” 

Qrow thought about shifting, Clover was sad and he had no idea that his semblance hasn’t failed him, he was indeed next to the person he wanted to find, but then something happen, Qrow felt like he was dying, no air was coming in and he was suffocating, he used all his energy and flew away as fast as he could, he found the first room and shifted, he spit four clovers in his hand.

“Uncle Qrow?” Ruby’s voice reached him and Qrow froze “Are those… did they come from…?”

“Ruby…” He started and then shut up because he didn’t have any idea of what was he supposed to say. 

“Yang told me that she saw you cough one the other week” She said “Is it…?”

Qrow thought about lying to his niece, tell her something else but he saw her serious expression and decided to tell her the truth, how when Yang had seen him he didn’t believe it could be Hanahaki, how he realized that it was possible when he almost crashed as a bird and how he had been certain after that. 

“That’s why you been avoiding all of us” She was mad and sad.

“Sorry, I just… this is a burden no one of you have to carry” He knew all the kids had some much in their plates, because of Salem and the relics.

“But you could die!” Ruby screamed and the added “Have you tell him how you feel?” 

Qrow smiled, it was obvious who he was pinning for, if not by his interactions with the other man then the four-leaf clover would have giving it up. He hadn’t mention anything to Clover, he had even reduce the casual flirting that sometimes happen between them, he knew the Ace Op would try to reciprocate his feeling to save him but it wasn’t fair, Clover was a good man he deserved to love whoever he wanted not force himself in order to save an idiot huntsman that got in love with him even if he knew he shouldn’t have. 

“Then what are you going to do?” Ruby asked “You are not planning to…” die, he knew that was what his niece wanted to ask.  
“I… I won’t let it go that far, if it gets to that point I will submit to the operation” 

He actually hadn’t thought about it, last time he had been ready to die because of the flowers, but now he had the kids to look after, he wanted to stay around them to help them, he even enjoyed their company, their brightness, but then, they weren’t children anymore, they could probably handle themselves pretty well. He knew it was selfish, but he hadn’t felt like this since Summer, he loved the warm sensation that travel through his veins when he saw Clover, he enjoyed how he could talk to the other man so easily, how easy was to love him. 

“It’s not fair” Said Ruby in tears, Qrow hug her “I don’t want you to die, but I know the consequences of the operation, you have gone through that once and I don’t want you to have to suffer that again and I know that you can force him to love you back but I kind of wish you could. I’m horrible” 

Qrow patted her back gently, he hated seeing his nieces suffer because of him. In that moment he came with a plan, he would try to spend as much time with Clover as he could, treasure every single moment around the Ace Op, and when his condition became too much, he would get rid of the clovers, he needed to be there for his nieces.

A week after that Qrow understood he couldn’t shapeshift anymore, the clovers in his lungs would probably kill him if he shifted, beside that, last week had been one of the best in his life, he talked to Clover every day, and started taking missions with him again, he trained extra hard to compensate the effect that having his lungs with plants could have in battle.

“Can I tell you something?” Clover asked after they ended a mission.

“Shot Lucky Charm” 

“I was kind of afraid that I have screw things up between us” Qrow’s heart jumped, he knew the other man didn’t mean anything more than friendship.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, after that mission you started avoiding me and no matter how hard I tried I never founded you” Clover wasn’t looking at him and Qrow didn’t like that.

“Sorry it took me that much time to come around” He apologize.

“It’s okay, I’m proud of you anyway” Hearing someone saying that they were proud of him shouldn’t have made his heart full with a warm feeling, but it did.

“Why?”

“When you disappeared, I thought that you have start drinking again” Qrow didn’t say anything, he couldn’t get mad at Clover for thinking that, it had been a possibility for him, he had thought about it, wanting nothing more than to drown the stupid leaves inside him. But hi didn’t do it, for himself and his nieces “I’m sorry, I feel so bad for thinking that”

“You assumed the worst, classic Atlas thinking, don’t worry about it” 

“I’m just glad that you are okay” The smile in Clover’s face was full of kindness and care and Qrow immediately look away.  
They stood in silence, Qrow thinking about how much Clover seemed to care about him, he hoped that after the operation he could still be friends with the Ace Op, he never got a change to know how his relationship with Summer was affected, since she died before he could saw her again. 

“I think I found a way to defeat you” Clover said suddenly. 

“You think you can defeat me with your fishing road?” Qrow laughed, but started walking toward the training room.

“What? Are scared of my incredible Kingfisher?”

“Bring it on Lucky Charm”

After a few weeks his combat was affected, he hated always feeling short of breath, he had to stop more time than he liked to, sometimes he felt like Harbinger was too heavy for him, he was slow and probably it was very irresponsible to keep going on missions. He hadn’t spat any blood yet thankfully, because he kept seeing Clover every day, they trained together and once in a while Clover would show him some part of Atlas that were meaningful to him.

He couldn’t believe it, Clover was amazing, he wasn’t only a great leader and an excellent huntsman, he was also kind, and silly, he cared about his teammates and even if he only knew the kids for a short time he cared about them already, he knew Clover had asked Harriet to teach Ruby how to use her semblance in a way she didn’t know, he found out that some of the modification Pietro had done to her weapons had come from direct suggestions of Clover. And even if that wasn’t sufficient, Qrow felt like himself around him, he didn’t have the need to hide anything, he didn’t worry that his semblance could screw things up, he could just be him. 

They were in Mantle, patrolling the border in case any Grimm showed up, but it was a peaceful night.

“Qrow, there’s something I need to tell you” Clover’s tone wasn’t good, and Qrow panicked, had he found about the Hanahaki?  
“You need to take some time off duty”

“What?” He knew he wasn’t in top condition, but… “Why would I do that?”

“You know why… I keep waiting for you to tell me what was wrong I have been watching get worst, the other day I saw you in the training room… Qrow you have gradually reducing the difficulty of the simulations… just so you can keep doing the same time in it and no one notice that you can´t do the same things as before. I just wish you can tell me what’s happening to you… I thought you trust me”

Clover face plus his words felt like a stab right to his heart, he felt distressed, he hadn’t wanted to hurt Clover, he trusted him, but he couldn’t tell him about the Hanahaki, he had already decided that.

“Okay, tomorrow I will talk to James” For some reason his response only managed to hurt Clover more, he saw it in his eyes.  
He was about to add something, when a manticore flew above them, Qrow knew it had been his fault, his bad feeling and his semblance had drawn the grimm towards them. He took out Harbinger and heard Clover took out Kingfisher, they were about to engage the grimm and for the first time, Qrow didn’t feel connected to his partner, they weren’t ready for that fight.  
Qrow charged against the manticore, aiming for the wings, he managed to slash one a little, before the grimm noticed, Clover stopped the monster with the hook of his weapon, Qrow charged again, but he realized he suddenly felt tired, they had been out just walking for a few hours, but apparently it had been too much for his lungs full of leaves. He felt his semblance got out of control; he couldn’t focus it. Maybe that’s why he never saw the tail coming.

He woke up in a hospital room in Atlas, he looked to his side and couldn’t hide his surprise, Clover was there, he had expected to see anyone else but him. Then he felt glad when the familiar rush of love ran trough him, he hadn’t realized until that moment that he had been scare that he had been submitted to the operation without his consent. 

“Hanahaki” said Clover and Qrow nodded resigned “The doctor said you got lucky, if it would have been a normal case you probably would be dead now”

“Lucky?” He focused on Clover’s face he had traces of tears in his cheeks and dark shadows under his eyes.

“Yeah… the flower inside you is so tiny and harmless, it doesn’t have any thick stem or thorns that can hurt you inside” Clover seemed kind of sad, but Qrow was more focused on the fact that Clover had said he had flowers inside him, not clovers “Qrow please… I know that if you decided to keep this as a secret it’s might be because you thought that the person you love doesn’t reciprocate your feeling, but if you tell who it is I… I will talk to them; they probably don’t know about your situation…” 

“Clover I don’t think…” He started to say, but the Ace Op interrupt him.

“Please Qrow I just want you to have at least the option” 

The younger man seemed desperate, but Qrow couldn’t do it, he could voice that the person he loved was right in front of him… he blamed his bad luck, because how could he possibly explain that the other had finally saw his hanahaki but instead of the four leaf plant he somehow had ended with a flower instead?

“I think is better if you leave, I need to… I just” Qrow couldn’t even finished his phrase and Clover was already gone.  
He realized some time after that a single purple flower laid in the table beside his bed, he stared at the flower like it could gave him the answer he seeks. 

The days passed and his condition got worse, after a few days he was almost unable to leave his bed, his chest hurt every single moment of his existence, he got visit from his nieces and their friends, everyone was so worried about him, even Ironwood come by to assure him that the procedure in Atlas was the best and it didn’t have side effects… but Clover didn’t return. Qrow felt hopeful when he saw a uniform of the Ace Ops approach and did nothing to hide his disappointment when it was only Marrow, the young Ace Op promise him that he personally would drag Clover if Qrow wanted to, but he denied the offer.

By that point everyone knew who he was dying for, but somehow Clover still didn’t appear.

“He will come uncle Qrow, he had to know by now it’s him” Ruby told him.

“Or maybe he already knows and it’s just waiting for you to… you know…” Yang said awkwardly and Ruby punched her, and the shapeshifter smiled weakly. He had already signed the authorization of his operation, but for some reason he could bring himself to give it to the doctors just yet.

One day he closed his eyes and thought it would be the last time he did it, he knew that if he stopped breathing or his heart failed the doctor would intervene and got rid of the hanahaki, and yet somehow he felt like even if he survived the operation in his risky situation, waking up would be like being death, without the feelings he cherished. 

“I’m so stupid” Qrow regained consciousness, when he felt a warm hand grab his.

“Clover?” He asked, he had recognized the voice.

“You know… clovers aren’t flowers, but apparently they can grow flowers…”

Suddenly it made sense, Qrow was dreaming, he was probably already in the operating room, and his mind was granting him a last conversation with the one he loved. 

“I’m sorry Cloves, I never want you to find about it… this was never supposed to happen. After the operation can we just pretend this never happen, that I never have unrequired feeling for you, please?” He knew he had screw up, he blamed himself and his semblance, obviously his bad luck wouldn’t let him have this, he wanted more than anything that this would be real, so he could apologize to Clover.

“Did you ever consider how I feel?” He never thought he would ever hear Clover angry, but now he sounded furious and that gave him the strength to open his eyes. Clover was there and everything was real, the Ace Op was rubbing his pin furiously “After the manticore hit you I was scared, terrified even I pushed my semblance as much as I could and defeated the grimm in record time, when I got to you, you were barely breathing I thought the worst… and imagine my surprise when the doctors said that you were only unconscious and that I had nothing to worry about. So, I pressed and they finally told me what you had…”

“I couldn’t tell you” Qrow started, he could barely said something long without coughing or feeling short of breath, but he needed to do this, for Clover “The more that I got to know you I fall more in love with you, you are a good man Clover, I just didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable or pressured to do something about it” 

“I’m not that good” Clover looks slightly embarrassed “When you spited that flower, I was devastated…. you were dying because someone didn’t love you back… I wanted to track that person and shake some sense in to them, mostly because I felt so powerless and scared, I was here loving you with all my being and I couldn’t save you, but I didn’t want to lose you”  
“You what!?” Qrow couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“You said that spending time with me make you fall more in love with me, right?” Qrow could only nodded still shocked by Clover’s kind of confession “Well, it happen the same with me, the more time we were together I found more and more thing that I liked about you, it didn’t took me long time to realize that I was— that I am in love with you… too”

Qrow couldn’t believe it, it was unreal, he should be happy, the person he loves, loves him back but he still could feel his lungs full of plants… was Clover faking everything? He knew that other was trying genially to save him, but… There was something in the back of his head whispering that it was wrong, that he didn’t deserve that, that his bad luck would never let him have this.

“Why?” Qrow asked “Why do you love me? I’m a mess, I almost got us kill”

“A hot mess” Clover laughed but when he saw how serious Qrow was he soften his look. He grabbed the troubled hunter’s hand “Where should I start? I wanted to meet you as soon as General Ironwood talked about you, I was curious, when I saw you fight for the first time I was amazed by your skills and then I saw you with the kids and you are so good with them, not only your nieces but everyone one of them… And when we finally got assigned to a mission together, I was excited… that was the first time that I felt something, when you talk to me about your semblance, you seemed so concerned because I almost got hurt… I love the way you care, the way you treat everyone around you, you supported your nieces when they faced thought choices, you didn’t think they couldn’t do it because they were young. I love how you manage to recover from drinking, how you fought against it for the people that needed you, that still need you. Oh, Qrow I just love being around you, our talks, our training sessions, when we are just there… Qrow? Qrow!”

Qrow thought he had died happily, hearing the love of his life talk about him, saying he love him back, he had drifted in the middle of Clover’s monologue, to weak to keep his eyes open, to weak to keep breathing. But he didn’t die, he instead felt a soft pressure against his lips. He knew that people sometime said that kissing their love one was like a breath of fresh air, in Qrow case it had been literally. The second Clover’s lips touched his own, he could breathe again, like magic the small clovers inside him disappeared. He didn’t waste a second before he deepened the kiss. 

“I love you” Was the first thing Qrow say once they separate. 

Clover had tears in his eyes and cheeks, but he was smiling brightly.

“I love you too” He said “In case you didn’t hear everything I just say”

They laughed.

“You know what… I love you so much you could say that I was dying for you” Qrow said and Clover rolled his eyes and kissed him again “And… I wouldn’t mind having some specific Clover inside me… again”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I manage to end this because I found clovers in my backyard and then I saw that between them was a beautiful purple flower (I didn't knew clovers could grow flowers until that moment) and suddenly I had what I needed to finish this.
> 
> I hope you like it and I'm sorry for the bad joke at the end I couldn't help it.
> 
> Kudos and comments are really appreciated n.n/

**Author's Note:**

> It's not my best work but I hope you like it.   
> Kudos and comments are appreciated.


End file.
